Friday, November 19, 2010

APOD 1.4

November 17, 2010
Frosted Leaf Orion

I chose this picture because I thought that the photographer did a great job of capturing the beautiful night sky and nature. The leaf makes the picture seems like it's looking into water because the ice crystals look like they reflect the star light. I also really like this picture because it's one of the constellations that I know. I am able to easily recognize this constellation during the early morning. Now, I know that the top left shoulder of Orion is Betelgeuse and that the bright star to the left of Orion's foot is actually the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius. Sirius is in the constellation of Canis Major, or the big dog. This signified to the Greeks that it was summer. This is where we get our dog days of summer. Towards the left of the picture one can see a meteor zipping past in the sky. The next meteor shower will occur in December during 13-14. The best time to see the meteor is when the moon has set. I am hoping to try to see the meteor show that coming. All in all, this picture is a really neat picture because of the similarities between the sky and the ice.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

APOD 2.3

November 11, 2010
Two Views

I chose this picture because it shows the same things from totally different places. As big as our world may seem, it's so tiny compared to space. Venus is now a morning object and when the moon is waning, it can be seen during the morning. Venus and the Moon are within 1 degree and both are in their present phases. I really like both pictures because they have different things to offer. For example, the picture on the left is taken in Italy above the clouds. I gives good perspective on how high up the camera was to take this picture. It's also really cool to see how close the two objects are. The other picture shows the Moon and Venus rising over the mountains is Iran. In the picture you can really get a good look at the phase that Venus is in. It's astounding how far the human race has come from the early times when Galileo first say the moons of Jupiter and the phases of Venus.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Observation 11-10-10

6:36 pm
I went outside with my little sister in our neighborhood. We participated in the Worldwide Star Count. We were only able to see the Northern Triangle and no stars of Cygnus. The moon was clearly visible in the waning crescent phase. The dark part of the moon was bale to be scene because the light reflecting off the moon was so bright. I think I also saw Jupiter, it was in the East, more South than East.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

APOD 2.2

Night Lights
November 4, 2010

The picture shown here is of the Earth itself, taken by the ISS. In the picture the southern Coast of the US shows lit highways and bustling cities such as New Orleans, Jackson, and Memphis. Even though the ISS is 220 miles above the Earth, there is no problem of seeing the blazing lights. The ISS is as long as a football field including the end zones. There is 8 miles of wires in the ISS that are used to control all of the electrical wiring. The inside that habitable is as large as a Boeing 747 aircraft. The entire ISS weighs almost 1 million pounds! 196 lucky individuals have visited the ISS, from 8 different countries. Each of the missions to were aimed to conduct research and add to the ISS. I think it's amazing that you can see what the human race has done form outer space, using a machine that the human race has made.